By Bob Frye

Published: Sunday, December 2, 2007

If you're looking for a backpacking tent or just a two-person tent for all occasions, Eastern Mountain Sports recently debuted its Star 2+ tent. This three-season tent has 35-square-feet of inside space, yet weighs only five pounds, 12 ounces and measures just 7 1/2 by 22 inches when packed. It has dual doors so that each occupant can enter separately, a vestibule over each door to store gear, and windows on those vestibules for additional light. There's plenty of mesh screening for air circulation, too. The tent comes with a full-coverage polyester rainfly that has its own tie-downs for pitching in the wind. A neat twist is the tent's glow-in-the-dark zipper pulls to make it easy to get in and out in the dark. Sugg. retail price: $239.00. For information: call 1-888-463-6367; or write EMS Customer Service, 1 Vose Farm Road, Peterborough, NH 03458.

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Lure of the week

Chatter Frog

Company: Rad Lures

Lure type: Hybrid jig/buzzbait/crankbait.

Sizes and colors: Available in a 3/8-ounce model in black shad, green/chartreuse, emerald green, white/camo, pumpkin/camo, brown/white, brown/yellow, and firetiger.

Target species: Largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike.

Technique: The Chatterbait was designed to be retrieved around structure. Its design -- with the chatter blade attached to the hook eye -- prevents most hang-ups by keeping the jig hook in the upright position, so retrieve it at moderate to high speeds to mimic fleeing prey.

Sugg. retail price: $6.19.

Notable: The action of the chatterbait can be changed by bending the tail of the blade. Keep the tail straight if you want it to be more erratic; bend it down if you want the lure to be less erratic. You can also tweak the action by using different skirts and trailers.

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Tip of the week

When choosing where to set your traps, make sure to use the wind to your advantage. If a furbearer cannot smell your attractant, it may pass within a few feet of your set and never take a step toward it. If they can smell the bait, urine or lure you're using, though, their curiosity may bring them in to the trap. The wind will carry your attractant's smell further than it would emanate on its own in a still night air, especially in cold weather, too, allowing you to pull in furbearers from greater distances.

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Recipe of the week

Venison mini meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground venison

• 1 cup tomato sauce

• 3/4 cup quick cooking oatmeal

• 2 egg whites, beaten

• 1/8 cup chopped green olives

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Coat three mini meatloaf pans with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix them thoroughly. Divide the mixture into three equal portions, shape them into loaves and transfer it all to the baking pans. Bake for 45 minutes.

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